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Lancer
Guest
As many know who pray EWTN’s Daily Mass, the Celebrant for Tues&Wed has been Bishop of Breda, Netherlands ….Bishop (Johannes Wilhelmus Maria)** Liesen** (26 Nov 2011 Appointed). He is a gifted homilist…pious and humble…direct and plain spoken…he pierces the soul but also lifts up the soul…IMHO.
Not knowing anything about his diocese…Breda…but having a keen interest in the Universality of our Church…I looked up some background info.
I am a Pre-Vatican II cradle Catholic…and I loved the mystery of the liturgy…and the enigmatic priests and religious…who served us and pastored us and taught us…but I don’t blame Vatican II for this drastic turning away from the Catholic Church/Faith…at least in practicing it. As I have said in other posts…to me the Holy Spirit spoke to each of Catholics at the close and implementation of Vatican II…from the Pope to the laity sitting in the last seat in the last pew in the most remote and smallest Church in the World…and said…Okay…you call yourself Catholic…show me…I am going to take all the “training wheels” off your entire Catholic Faith…so you can show me what a real Catholic is…a real member of the Church of Christ…a real disciple of Christ…a real member of the Apostolic Church… and many of us showed the Holy Spirit right away…by promptly riding our or Catholic “faith bikes” right off the “narrow” road and wound up…on a “wide” rode with all kinds of traffic…and then inevitably crashed and wound up…upside down in a ditch…called post-modernism.
Lastly, our Catholic Church here in USA has seen some mind boggling numbers/data changes also since Vatican II ended and during its implementation…but when you look at Western Europe…and a big portion of Canada…the Body of Christ here in USA…can and should be very grateful to the Holy Spirit…we still have a lot of Catholics on The Way. We must continue to pray…pray…pray…for our Church in America, our bishops. priests, deacons, religious and laity in ministries and apostolates…and for all our fallen away brother and sisters in Christ…and most especially for the strengthening and growth of our own faith…hope…charity. More fasting and almsgiving with those prayers…are…our only real source of any meaningful power!
Pax Christi
Not knowing anything about his diocese…Breda…but having a keen interest in the Universality of our Church…I looked up some background info.
Sadly…two sources (Wikipedia types) put Sunday Church attendance at @ 15,000 to 20,000 of the @ 482,000 Catholics…I have seen what Sunday Mass looks like in several Western European dioceses…its bewildering how it could be so low…and many who do attend are immigrant minorities…not native locals.
I am a Pre-Vatican II cradle Catholic…and I loved the mystery of the liturgy…and the enigmatic priests and religious…who served us and pastored us and taught us…but I don’t blame Vatican II for this drastic turning away from the Catholic Church/Faith…at least in practicing it. As I have said in other posts…to me the Holy Spirit spoke to each of Catholics at the close and implementation of Vatican II…from the Pope to the laity sitting in the last seat in the last pew in the most remote and smallest Church in the World…and said…Okay…you call yourself Catholic…show me…I am going to take all the “training wheels” off your entire Catholic Faith…so you can show me what a real Catholic is…a real member of the Church of Christ…a real disciple of Christ…a real member of the Apostolic Church… and many of us showed the Holy Spirit right away…by promptly riding our or Catholic “faith bikes” right off the “narrow” road and wound up…on a “wide” rode with all kinds of traffic…and then inevitably crashed and wound up…upside down in a ditch…called post-modernism.
Lastly, our Catholic Church here in USA has seen some mind boggling numbers/data changes also since Vatican II ended and during its implementation…but when you look at Western Europe…and a big portion of Canada…the Body of Christ here in USA…can and should be very grateful to the Holy Spirit…we still have a lot of Catholics on The Way. We must continue to pray…pray…pray…for our Church in America, our bishops. priests, deacons, religious and laity in ministries and apostolates…and for all our fallen away brother and sisters in Christ…and most especially for the strengthening and growth of our own faith…hope…charity. More fasting and almsgiving with those prayers…are…our only real source of any meaningful power!
Pax Christi